How CookEase Calculates Nutrition and Serving Sizes
Every recipe in CookEase carries an estimate of its calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat. This article explains where those numbers come from, how precise they are, and how to correct them when you know better.
Where the numbers come from
When you import or generate a recipe, CookEase reads the ingredient list along with each quantity and unit and estimates the nutrition from it. The same estimate is produced whether the recipe came from a link, a photo of a cookbook, pasted text, or the AI recipe generator.
These are estimates, not measurements. They are calculated from typical values for each ingredient, so they cannot account for the specific brand you bought, how much fat rendered out during cooking, or how heavy-handed you were with the oil. Treat them as a good guide for comparing recipes, not as a clinical figure.
Per serving, not per pan
The figures on a recipe card are per serving. CookEase estimates the whole recipe first, then divides by the number of servings, so the two always agree.
This is why the serving count matters. A tray of 25 protein donut holes and a tray of 12 are the same tray of food, but the per-serving numbers are twice as big for one as the other. If the number of servings on a recipe is not what you want, change that first and the nutrition follows along.
Why serving size is the number that matters
"38 calories" tells you almost nothing on its own. Thirty-eight calories of what? Half a cookie? A whole bowl?
That is what the serving size field answers. It describes what one serving physically is, in plain language: 1 donut hole (10g), 2 tacos, 1 cup (240ml), a quarter of the tray. When a recipe has one recorded it appears directly above the nutrition figures, so the two are read together.
Not every recipe has one. Rather than invent a serving size that merely sounds right, CookEase simply hides the field when it is unknown. A missing serving size just means the original recipe did not state one, and you can add your own in Edit whenever you like.
Why protein, carbs, and fat carry a decimal
Protein, carbohydrates, and fat are shown to one decimal place. Calories are whole numbers.
That extra digit is there for a reason. Rounding to whole grams quietly hides real detail in small portions. A single protein donut hole contains roughly 0.12g of fat, which would show as 0g if rounded, and 1.84g of protein, which would become 2g. Across twenty-five donut holes those little roundings add up to a noticeably different total.
Calories stay whole because nobody meaningfully tracks a tenth of a calorie.
Correcting a recipe
If you have the real numbers, from a packet, a label, or your own scale, enter them yourself:
- Open the recipe and choose Edit.
- Scroll to the nutrition fields and type your values for calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
- Fill in Serving Size to describe one portion, for example 1 slice (120g).
- Save. Your values replace the estimate and will not be overwritten.
Leaving a field blank hides it rather than storing a zero, so a partially filled recipe still displays cleanly.
A note on accuracy
CookEase nutrition is intended to help you cook and plan, not to manage a medical condition. If you are counting macros for a clinical reason, or you have an allergy or intolerance, verify against the actual packaging of the ingredients you used.